Creativity And Sexuality: A Kabbalistic PerspectiveJudaism openly recognizes, as an integral part of human nature, the enigmatic relationship between yetzer, or physical desire, and yetzirah, or spiritual creativity. Creativity and Sexuality, written as a fictional dialogue, clearly delineates the psychic interdependence of these two drives, as well as the integration of the concepts as they are defined by both Jewish mysticism and modern psychology. Mordechai Rotenberg is interested in the impact of religion on the psychology of everyday life. He was prompted to write Creativity and Sexuality by the popularity of writings that explore Jewish texts on the subject of sexuality from a historical or literary point of view, but that do not hesitate to include psychological evaluations based on popular secondary psychological concepts. This work seeks to provide an accurate psychological analysis of sexuality and spirituality from a Jewish mystical perspective. As such, it both reconstructs the interdisciplinary bridge between Judaism and psychology and deconstructs some exegetical traditions. The goal is to present new paradigmatic options, which may help modern society struggle more efficiently with its sexuality. Ultimately, the author sees physical desire and spiritual creativity as a regulative continuum. People learn how to spend the tremendous power of energy that the sexual yetzer produces not only on physical sex, but on the spiritual yetzirah. In an introduction written especially for this new edition, the author explains the continuing relevance of Creativity and Sexuality, and the ongoing relationship between sexual desire and a healthy spiritual self-fulfillment. This volume will be of interest to students of Judaism, psychology, mysticism, and sexuality. |
From inside the book
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... sexuality and romanticism . From this psychotheological perspective , it is useful to introduce this observation ... Creativity and Sexuality : A Kabbalistic Perspective is , by contrast , predicated on the notion that the person who ...
... sexual and spiritual energies . In other words , it is claimed that Judaism presents a broadened functional model of energy in which physical and spiritual sexuality nourish each other . Examining this yetzer - yetzira channeling system ...
... sexual education in the modern Western world has been guided by the preventative concept of how to diminish the fear of getting babies or getting AIDS , then Creativity and Sexuality may entail a fresh , positive energizing system . By ...
... sexuality incurs personal risks , especially be- cause I decided to follow William James's candid writing style ... Creativity " that appeared in this journal in Vol . 5 : 4 of 1995. I was also invited to lecture on the " Judeo- Christian ...
... sexuality from the time of the first Jew , Abraham , up to contem- porary Jewish writers like Philip Roth . However , since sexuality is by definition not a matter of textuality but first and foremost the core of the living energy that ...
Contents
Creation and Procreation | 1 |
Contraction and Emanation as Reading and Writing | 21 |
The Yetzer and Romantic Imagination | 49 |
Manic Disorder versus Creative Ecstasy | 62 |
Romantic Flirting versus Sexual Harassment | 79 |
Harassing the Flirter | 89 |
Ecstatic Prophecy and Imagination | 105 |
The YetzerYetzira Genre and the Musar Movement | 121 |
The Theory of Vaginal Envy | 139 |
The Yetzer in the Sociopsychological Therapy Room | 157 |
Bibliography | 171 |
Kierkegaards Seduction Style 86 | 179 |